Sunni Muslims burn a U.S. flag during a protest in Lahore, Pakistan, on Monday, September 17. Protests sparked by an online film that mocks the Prophet Mohammed entered their second week, with demonstrators taking to the streets in Pakistan, Afghanistan, Indonesia and Lebanon. 
Pakistani Shiite Muslims shout anti-American slogans Monday in Lahore. 
Afghan riot police are reflected through a window during an anti-U.S. protest Monday in Kabul, Afghanistan. Protesters attacked police along a road leading to the U.S. Embassy in Kabul. 
Afghan police leave Jalalabad Road following an anti-U.S. protest Monday in Kabul. 
Barricades of tires burn Monday in Kabul. 
Indonesian anti-riot police arrest a protester Monday outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. Monday's demonstrations come nearly a week after protests erupted in Egypt and Libya, spreading to more than 20 nations. 
An Indonesian protester runs through smoke Monday outside the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta. 
Pakistani lawyers shout anti-American slogans as they march Monday in Lahore. 
Pakistani activists shout slogans in Islamabad on Sunday, September 16. 
Pakistani protestors hold banners and shout anti-U.S. slogans in Karachi on Sunday. 
Pakistani paramilitary soldiers stand near a burning police van during an anti-U.S. protest organized by Pakistani Shiite Muslims in Karachi on Sunday. 
Supporters of Pakistan's outlawed Islamic hard-line group Jamaat ud Dawa shout anti-U.S. slogans during a rally against an anti-Islam movie in Lahore, Pakistan, on Sunday. 
A protester climbs on a gate of the U.S. Consulate in Karachi, Pakistan, on Sunday. 
Pakistani protesters march toward the U.S. Consulate in Karachi on Sunday. 
Protesters attack a police van outside the U.S. Consulate in Karachi on Sunday. 
Pakistani police fire tear gas shells toward the protesters in Karachi on Sunday. 
An Afghan youth shouts slogans during an anti-U.S. protest in Kabul, Afghanistan, on Sunday. 
Hafiz Mohammad Saeed, head of Pakistan's outlawed Islamic hard-line group Jamaat ud Dawa, addresses supporters in Lahore on Sunday. 
A protester hits a policeman with a pole in Sydney's central business district on Saturday, September 15. Anger over an anti-Islam video, "The Innocence of Muslims," spread to Australia on Saturday, and protesters took to the streets of the country's capital. 
A man assists a young protester after capsicum spray was used by police near the U.S. Consulate General in central Sydney on Saturday. 
A policeman, injured by protesters, is assisted by colleagues in central Sydney on Saturday. 
A Tunisian firefighter works inside a destroyed school building in the grounds of the American school in Tunis, Tunisia, on Saturday. Four people were killed and almost 50 injured in an attack on the U.S. Embassy in Tunis the day before by protesters angry over an anti-Islam film, the health ministry said. 
A burned bus sits in the grounds of the American school in Tunis on Saturday. 
A woman collects books from a classroom in the American school in Tunis on Saturday. 
Muslim protesters holding shoes and brooms shout anti-U.S. slogans on Saturday during a protest against the film they consider blasphemous to Islam near the U.S. Consulate-General in Chennai, India. 
Supporters of Islamic political party Jamaat-e-Islami shout slogans during a protest on Saturday in Khyber Agency, Pakistan. The Pakistani parliament passed a resolution on Thursday condemning "The Innocence of Muslims" and urged the U.S. to take appropriate action. 
Supporters of Islamic political party Jamaat-e-Islami shout slogans during a protest in Khyber Agency on Saturday. 
Pakistani Muslims burn a U.S. flag during a protest rally in Islamabad on Saturday. The Pakistani Taliban on Saturday issued a call to young Muslims worldwide and within the country to rise up against an anti-Islam movie. 
Mourners shout slogans during the funeral of a protester who was killed two days ago during clashes with security forces at the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, on Saturday . According to media reports, at least four people were killed when hundreds of Yemeni protesters stormed the embassy on Wednesday. 
Smoke billows from the burning German Embassy in Khartoum, Sudan, as a policeman stands next to a man preparing to extinguish the fire caused by protesters the anti-Islam film. Around 5,000 protesters in the Sudanese capital stormed the embassies of Britain and Germany, which were torched and badly damaged. 
A Sudanese protester, right, takes off his clothes to show policemen that he is unarmed during a protest in Khartoum on Friday. Two protesters were killed as security forces used tear gas against thousands of demonstrators trying to approach the U.S. mission after storming the British and German embassies. 
A Jordanian protester holds an Islamic book near the U.S. Embassy in Amman, Jordan, on Friday. Hundreds of members of Jordanian Salafi Movement gathered after Friday noon prayers in protest of a controversial anti-Islam film. 
Police stand guard near protesters near the U.S. Consulate General in Sydney on Saturday, September 15. 
Protesters clash with police on a street in Sydney's central business district on Saturday. 
Indian policemen walk past smashed windows of the U.S. Consulate building, caused by a mob of demonstrators protesting against an anti-Islam film, in Chennai, India, on Friday, September 14. 
Tunisian protesters try to storm the U.S. Embassy in Tunis on Friday. 
A Tunisian protester holds an Al-Qaeda affiliated flag amid the smoke coming from the tear gas fired by riot police outside the U.S. Embassy in Tunis on Friday. 
Yemeni riot policemen stand guard at a crossroad leading to the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa on Friday. 
Yemeni protesters burn a U.S. flag on a street leading to the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa on Friday, September 14. 
Yemeni protesters shout during a demonstration near the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa on Friday. 
Yemeni protesters run for cover from tear gas fired by riot police in Sanaa on Friday. 
Jordanian protesters burn a U.S. flag near the U.S. Embassy in Amman on Friday. 
Jordanian protesters shout in Amman on Friday. 
Israeli police officers stand behind their shields during clashes with stone-throwing Palestinian protesters in a demonstration against an anti-Islam film in front of the Dome of the Rock in Jerusalem's Old City on Friday. 
Israeli police arrest a Palestinian protester on Friday. 
Boys inspect fast food chains Hardee's and KFC after they were torched during a protest in the northern Lebanese city of Tripoli on Friday. 
Bangladeshi Muslims attempt to break a police barricade during a protest in Dhaka on Friday. 
Supporters of Jamat ud Dawa shout during a protest against an anti-Islam video in Peshawar, Pakistan, on Friday. 
A Muslim protester defaces a mural on a wall of the U.S. Consulate in the southern Indian city of Chennai on Friday. 
Muslim protesters burn a U.S. flag outside the U.S. Consulate in the southern Indian city of Chennai on Friday. 
Muslim protesters shout outside the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad, Pakistan, on Friday. 
Pakistani soldiers hold back protesters attempting to reach the U.S. Embassy in Islamabad on Friday. 
An Egyptian protester throws a tear gas canister toward riot police during clashes near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Friday. 
A Sudanese demonstrator burns a German flag after torching the German Embassy in Khartoum on Friday. 
Protesters throw stones toward riot police during clashes along a road leading to the U.S. Embassy near Tahrir Square in Cairo on Friday, September 14. 
A riot police officer shouts a warning during clashes in Cairo on Friday. 
Protesters chant during a march to the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa, Yemen, on Thursday, September 13. One protester was killed in clashes when Yemeni security forces dispersed hundreds of demonstrators who gathered around and inside the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa. 
A protester shouts after sustaining injuries in a confrontation with riot police who fired tear gas outside the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa on Thursday. 
Protesters carry flags that read "There is no God but Allah, Mohammed is Allah's messenger" and chant during a protest in Tripoli, Lebanon, on Thursday. 
Palestinians protest the movie "Innocence of Muslims" in front of the Legislative Council in Gaza City on Thursday. 
Iranian demonstrators chant anti-American slogans during a demonstration on Thursday in front of the Swiss Embassy, which serves as the U.S. interests section in Iran, in Tehran. 
An Iranian police officer shows a victory sign during Thursday's demonstration in Tehran. 
Supporters of Sunni Muslim Salafist leader Ahmad al-Assir burn Israeli and U.S. flags during a protest in Sidon, Lebanon, on Thursday. 
Kuwaiti police stand guard as hundreds of demonstrators protest near the U.S. Embassy in Kuwait City on Thursday. 
Arab-Israeli men wave green Islamic flags with the Muslim profession of belief: "There is no God but God and Mohammed is the prophet of God" during a protest in front of the U.S. Embassy on Thursday in Tel Aviv, Israel. 
Egyptian protesters throw stones at riot police during clashes near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Thursday. 
Riot police take cover from stones thrown by protesters on Thursday. 
Egyptian protesters help a man who inhaled tear gas during clashes at the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Thursday. 
A burned-out pickup sits between Egyptian protesters and riot police in Cairo on Thursday. 
Egyptian protesters take cover during clashes with riot police on Thursday. 
An Egyptian protester wears a makeshift mask and helmet for protection while fighting riot police on Thursday. 
Egyptian protesters run for cover from tear gas fired by riot police during clashes on Thursday. 
An Egyptian riot police officer fires tear gas toward protesters during clashes Thursday with police near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. 
Iraqi protesters burn Israeli and U.S. flags during a protest Thursday. The U.S. ambassador to Libya, J. Christopher Stevens, and three others were killed during a protest outside the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Tuesday. 
Egyptian protesters clash with riot police Thursday near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. 
Iranians protest against a film mocking Islam near the Swiss Embassy in Tehran on Thursday. Up to 500 people chanted "Death to America!" and death to the director of the movie, which was made in the United States. The demonstration ended peacefully in two hours. 
An Egyptian protester throws a tear gas canister at riot police Thursday during clashes near the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. 
Police use tear gas on crowds protesting Thursday outside the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. 
The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames Tuesday, September 11. 
A vehicle and the surrounding area are engulfed in flames after it was set on fire inside the compound on Tuesday. 
A protester reacts as the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is seen in flames Tuesday night. 
Yemeni protesters gather around a fire Thursday during a demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in the capital of Sanaa. Yemeni forces fired warning shots to disperse the thousands of protesters approaching the main gate of the mission. 
Yemeni protesters try to break the security camera at the U.S. Embassy in Sanaa on Thursday. 
Egyptians shout slogans during a protest in front of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. 
Egyptian protesters gather in front of the U.S. Embassy the morning after it was vandalized by protesters during a demonstration on Wednesday in Cairo. 
Protesters shout outside the U.S. Embassy in Tunis, Tunisia, on Wednesday, September 12. 
A group of protesters attend a demonstration outside the U.S. Embassy in Tunis on Wednesday. 
A demonstrator walks on a U.S. flag during a Wednesday's demonstration at the U.S. Embassy in Tunis. 
People inspect the damage at the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, on Wednesday, the day after four people were killed. 
Egyptian demonstrators continue to stake out the U.S. Embassy in Cairo on Wednesday. 
Police confront protesters praying in front of the U.S. Embassy in Casablanca, Morocco, during a rally against the anti-Islam film on Wednesday. 
Moroccan women gather near the U.S. Embassy in Casablanca on Wednesday. 
A Palestinian man holds a placard praising Islam's prophet Mohammed during a demonstration against the film on Wednesday in front of the United Nations headquarters in Gaza City. 
Palestinian men burn the American flag during Wednesday's demonstration in Gaza City. 
A man waves his rifle as buildings and cars are engulfed in flames inside the U.S. Consulate compound in Benghazi, Libya, late on Tuesday, September 11. 
The U.S. Consulate in Benghazi is set on fire during a protest. Armed gunmen attacked the compound on Tuesday evening, clashing with Libyan security forces before the latter withdrew as they came under heavy fire. 
Protesters destroy an American flag pulled down from the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, Egypt. 
People stand around a drawing that says "Remember your black day 11 September" during the protest in Cairo. 
People shout and light flares in front of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. 
People shout in front of the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. 
Protesters pull down a U.S. flag. 
Thousands were angered by the controversial film. 
Demonstrators yell outside the U.S. Embassy. 
Egyptian riot police stand guard as protesters climb down from the wall. 
An Egyptian protester waves a black flag inscribed with the Muslim profession of faith -- "There is no God but God, and Mohammed is the prophet of God" -- as he stands above the door of the U.S. Embassy. 
- NEW: Protests against anti-Islamic video in Indonesia, Thailand, reports say
- Taliban group says Afghanistan suicide attack was in retribution for video
- Al Qaeda urges killing of U.S. government representatives across Muslim lands
- A U.S. Muslim leader says there should be "no reaction to such an insignificant production"
Editor's note: Read a version of this story in Arabic
(CNN) -- As part of the fallout from an online video that mocks Islam's holy prophet, al Qaeda's affiliate in North Africa on Tuesday urged Muslims in the region to kill U.S. government representatives and called the death of Ambassador Chris Stevens a "gift."
"We encourage all Muslims to continue to demonstrate and escalate their protests ... and to kill their (American) ambassadors and representatives or to expel them to cleanse our land from their wickedness," said the statement from al Qaeda in the Islamic Maghreb.
The group called last week's killing of Stevens, the U.S. ambassador to Libya, "the best gift you (can) give to his arrogant and unjust administration."
The video, "The Innocence of Muslims," is a low-budget, amateurish 14-minute movie trailer produced privately in the United States and posted on YouTube. The clip mocks the Prophet Mohammed as a womanizer, child molester and killer.
Actor: Anti-Islam filmmaker 'was playing us along'
Islam forbids any depictions of Mohammed, and blasphemy is taboo among many in the Muslim world.
The man behind anti-Islamic film 
Egypt cracks down on protesters 
Peaceful protests in Pakistan 
Rice on the anti-American protests abroad The video was relatively obscure until September 11 when rioters seizing on it breached the U.S. Embassy in Cairo. Protesters also attacked the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi, Libya, killing Stevens and three other Americans.
Although Washington has made it clear it did not sanction the film, a wave of protests since then has rippled from Morocco to Malaysia, spurring U.S. officials to increase security at diplomatic missions and demand other governments to take action.
Here are the latest key developments:
Suicide attack in Afghanistan
A Taliban-allied insurgent group claimed responsibility for a suicide attack that killed 12 people, including eight South Africans, in Afghanistan. The attack was a response to the film, the group said.
Hezb-e-Islami Gulbuddin, a group allied with the Taliban, said a 22-year-old woman drove a car packed with 660 pounds (300 kilograms) of explosives into a van on a road leading to Kabul International Airport.
Eleven others were wounded in the attack, the Afghan Interior Ministry said.
The escalating tensions have spilled into NATO military operations in the central Asia nation, prompting the alliance to order its troops to adjust joint operations with Afghan security forces to minimize attacks on them by their local allies.
"Recent events outside of and inside Afghanistan related to the 'Innocence of Muslims' video plus the conduct of recent insider attacks have given cause for ISAF troops to exercise increased vigilance and carefully review all activities and interactions with the local population," said a spokeswoman for NATO's International Security Assistance Force. The operations with Afghan forces could increase as the "threat level" goes down, she said.
More protests
About 100 demonstrators gathered Tuesday near a U.S. diplomatic facility in Medan, Indonesia, the U.S. Embassy in Jakarta reported on its website. Indonesian authorities were deploying about 150 police officers to the Medan protest and adding security outside the U.S. facility in Jakarta, although no protests were taking place there, the embassy said.
In Indian-administered Kashmir, a general strike flared, shutting down businesses, public transport and most government operations, with reports of sporadic violence. A coalition of religious parties and separatist groups called the strike as a protest against the video.
In Thailand, a peaceful crowd protested in heavy rain in front of the U.S. Embassy in Bangkok for about 90 minutes Tuesday, the Bangkok Post newspaper reported. No violence was reported, the newspaper said.
U.S. officials were aware of the planned protest and made plans to close the building to the public and send home nonessential personnel, the embassy said on its website.
In Iran, students at universities staged protest rallies Tuesday against the film and the United States. They chanted, "Death to the U.S.," and "Death to Israel," the semi-official Fars News Agency reported.
The man behind the anti-Islam film
Protests linked to the video were larger and more widespread Monday when demonstrators took to the streets in Afghanistan, Indonesia, Pakistan, Yemen, Lebanon and Iraq.
Answering a call from the leader of Hezbollah -- deemed a terrorist organization by the United States -- thousands packed the streets of Beirut's southern suburbs Monday and chanted, "Death to America!"
But Monday's protests weren't on the scale of those last week, nor did they provoke the same level of international crisis by endangering U.S. diplomatic missions.
Still, the fact that the demonstrations are continuing -- and that they have occurred in more than 20 countries -- suggests the anti-American furor tied to the inflammatory film isn't going away.
Video purportedly shows Libyans rushing to aid Stevens
Investigation into ambassador's killing
Libya has taken steps to arrest those responsible for last week's deadly consulate attack, bringing in dozens for questioning over the weekend, Libyan officials said. The exact number of arrests was unclear. One Libyan official said those arrested included suspects from Mali and Algeria as well as al Qaeda sympathizers.
Wanes al-Sharif, a deputy interior minister whose jurisdiction included eastern Libya, was fired a day after the Benghazi attack, according to documents CNN obtained Monday. No reason was given for al-Sharif's dismissal. Notably, he told reporters after the U.S. Consulate in Benghazi assault that he'd ordered a security force mobilized during the unrest "to leave the area because of the large number of protesters."
The FBI also is investigating the Libya attack but has yet to enter the country because of volatility there. In the meantime, FBI agents are interviewing witnesses outside Libya, federal law enforcement officials said.
U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta told reporters over the weekend that the worst of the violence appeared over, but the United States is maintaining tight security anyway.
Nonessential personnel have been ordered to leave American diplomatic missions in Sudan, Tunisia and Libya. In Yemen, consular services were suspended until the end of the month. And on Monday, the U.S. State Department -- citing "current safety and security concerns" -- urged U.S. citizens to avoid travel to Lebanon.
But the U.S. Embassy in Cairo, the scene of five consecutive days of protests, returned to full staffing Sunday, the State Department said.
Filmmaker in hiding, video blocked
Federal officials said the man behind the film that sparked the worldwide protests is Nakoula Basseley Nakoula, a convicted felon with a history of using aliases to hide his actions. Nakoula is on probation for bank fraud.
Nakoula and his family have left their Cerritos, California, home for an unidentified location, the Los Angeles County Sheriff's Department said Monday.
Where Obama, Romney stand on foreign policy challenges
Reports that Nakoula is a Coptic Christian have raised concern about a possible backlash against the minority religious group in Egypt, where tensions between Copts and Muslims have risen recently. He initially told The Wall Street Journal that he was an Israeli.
Nakoula denied he made the film, according to Bishop Serapion, the head of the Coptic Orthodox Diocese of Los Angeles, citing a phone conversation with him last week. At a news conference Monday, the Coptic leader condemned violence by protesters which, he said, "only serves to continue the hate."
"There should have been no bloodshed," echoed local Muslim leader Maher Hathout, chairman of the Islamic Shura Council of Southern California, at the same Los Angeles event. "As a matter of fact, there should have been no reaction to such an insignificant production."
Fareed's Take: Protest images do not tell the whole story
Efforts to block film spread
The Russian prosecutor general's office said Monday it will seek to block the movie, which it has labeled extremist, and Communications Minister Nikolai Nikiforov warned the country may block YouTube over the video, the state-run RIA Novosti news agency reported.
A day after the protests broke out, YouTube announced it was restricting access to the video, and since then, Google India has blocked access. Google is YouTube's parent company.
Afghanistan, Pakistan and Bangladesh also have ordered an indefinite block of YouTube to prevent people there from watching the clip.
Despite U.S. government officials' firm condemnation, some in the Muslim world -- especially those raised in regimes in which the government must authorize any film -- cannot accept that a movie such as "Innocence of Muslims" can be made without Washington's blessing, Council of Foreign Relations scholar Ed Husain said.
"They're projecting ... their experience, their understanding (that) somehow the U.S. government is responsible for the actions of a right-wing fellow," said Husain, a senior fellow at the New York think thank.
Opinion: Should Google censor film?
CNN's Mukhtar Ahmad, Jomana Karadsheh, Mohammed Tawfeeq, Miguel Marquez, Anna Coren, Nasir Habib, Reza Sayah, Jessica King, Chelsea J. Carter, Tom Watkins, Greg Botelho and journalist Farid Ahmed contributed to this report.
